Be a CCS
. . . for Success!™
National Designation Program
Welcome to Condo University® . . .
This national real estate designation program was created and developed by Realtors® for Realtors a number of years ago to fill a gap in the Realtor® industry and the individual Realtors’ education that no one had filled.
Real estate attorney and broker Barry Ross and broker Candy Peak Ross are the originators and authors of this national designation course and program, its marketing and its content. They are also the trademark-holders of all of the designations on this website and the copyright-holders of the course materials. Our goal is to help the ambiguous real estate agent distinguish himself or herself from the crowd, while helping expand the diligent real estate agent's knowledge, experience and professionalism through education.
The Certified Condominium Specialist® Designation Course teaches you all about condos and condo listing, leasing and sales, and other forms of HOA-related property sales. Our aspiration is to help real estate agents better serve the consumer while increasing the agent's own sales volume goals, community reputation and professional career goals, to achieve financial and personal freedom and professional recognition.
The CCS® Course assists real estate agents and other HOA-related personnel to better understand and represent their community associations, the homeowners within the community, and the sellers, buyers, tenants and landlords that live in the community association environment.
We'd like to introduce you to the creators of this program and our expert instructors here at Condo University®. And we invite you to register for the CCS™ course that was designed especially for you . . .
Barry Ross, MBA, JD
The Real Estate Attorney
Co-creator of the Certified Condominium Specialist Course: National Real Estate Trainer, Attorney, ADR-Expert, Real Estate Broker and Condo University® Instructor Barry Ross is a nationally-published author and lecturer in real estate and mediation-related topics. Barry is also a popular real estate newspaper and online columnist for the Los Angeles Times, where he has published his well-known educational columns "Legally SpeakingSM" and "Ask the Real Estate AttorneySM." In addition, he has written for The Daily News, The Pasadena Outlook, as well as other local and national media, and was the host of the popular radio show "Ask the Real Estate AttorneySM."
Barry is a member of the Community Associations Institute® (CAI), which deals with local and national Condominium and HOA-related law, management and finance. Along with his wife Candy, he was recently interviewed in the March/April 2012 edition of CAI's Common Ground Magazine, where he and Candy gave key insights to readers into how real estate agents and HOA managers and management companites can best work together to effectively provide condo buyers and sellers with less-stressful, more successful sales closing of condominiums and HOA-related properties.
Barry, a sought-after mediator and arbitrator for 25 years, has years of experience in mediating HOA law disputes as well as many other types of disputes including real estate, finance, and business law. He is a Distinguished Fellow, International Academy of Mediators, an honored Member of the California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators, Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, Member of the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association, and a Panelist of Superior ADR Services and Ross Mediation Services. Barry is also one of the 2013 California State Bar Nominees for Real Property Person of the year.
At home, Barry is well-known as one of Southern California’s premier real estate and business attorneys, educators and mediators because of his intuitive problem-solving talents and his genuine, caring people skills. A respected law professor for over 3 decades, Barry has also run a thriving, local real estate law practice, Barry Ross & Associates, for over 35 years. He graduated from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, and Southwestern University School of Law where he earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence and his M.B.A. in Accounting and Finance between both schools simultaneously.
Barry has served as Superior Court Judge Pro Tem, California Association of Realtors® Legal Services Panel Referral Attorney and Regional Chairman, C.A.R. Standard Forms Committee Attorney and C.A.R. State Legal Affairs Attorney for over 30 years. Barry is currently the 2012 President of the Glendale Bar Association, and he was the 2010-2011 President of the Burbank Bar Association. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the California State Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar, San Fernando Bar, Glendale and Burbank Bar Associations.
As a Realtor®-Broker, Barry served as the 1993 President of the Glendale Association of Realtors®, of which he is still a Realtor®-Member and current Sponsor, and he is a Sponsor and affiliate of his local chapter of the Women's Council of Realtors® and an affiliate member of the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena and Burbank Associations of Realtors®.
A native of Glendale, California, Barry has held a real estate broker's license for 40 years and he has owned and managed several real estate brokerages, property management companies, and has organized successful real estate syndications of investment properties. He and his wife Candy have also personally owned and managed numerous properties in common interest communities, with years of experience working with community associations issues.
Barry also owns The Estate Planning CenterSM and in conjunction with his legal practice, he assists his many real estate and business clients with smart legal solutions, resolving disputes and properly protecting their assets.
His long and prestigious client list consists of national real estate firms and insurance companies, attorneys, local business owners, individual buyers, sellers, REALTORS® and community members.
Barry is dedicated to educating and helping both his local and national real estate communities, his students and clients and their buyers and sellers, achieve their real estate goals by solving legal issues through insightful education with better communication and understanding.
Barry is currently one of the Directors of the Council of Condominium Specialists® and the Council of CID Specialists®.
Candy Peak
Realtor® & Educator
A Family History of Real Estate Success!
National real estate instructor, co-author and Certified Condominium Specialist
Candy Peak Ross has sold hundreds of condos and HOA-related properties in her long, successful family history of real estate sales. Candy has excelled personally in condominium sales in her many years as a Realtor
®and Real Estate Broker. And Candy has worked diligently to assist other real estate agents and buyers and sellers in better understanding the complex process of listing and selling HOA-related properties.
As an instructor and course co-creator for Condo University®
, real estate broker, Candy is well-prepared to guide real estate agents, buyers, and sellers through the exciting field of condo and common interest development/communities real estate, with her educational savvy, and her stellar sales, management and marketing skills. Candy offers a rare understanding and view point of the condominium real estate market. In her long, distinguished career, Candy has been trusted and admired by her many clients and students for her thoughtful, creative and beneficial knowledge she shares through her many years of listing and selling condominiums and other forms of common interest developments.
Candy began her real estate career working in her family's real estate business as a teenager in 1969. Candy's mother and real estate mentor, Vivian Peak, was one of her state's top Realtors® and very well-loved by her clientele, often selling 2 or 3 homes a day. Candy and her sister Pamela joined their Mother and Dad in their real estate family business, and following in their mother's successful footsteps, as the high-profile "PEAK™ Family Real Estate Team," successfully selling residential and investment properties for many years together.
Educational Innovator: Candy and her husband, Real Estate Attorney, Barry Ross, are the co-authors of the national Certified Condominium Specialist® Course: A Professional Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Successfully Listing and Selling Condominiums and Other Forms of HOA-Related Properties.
Candy also has been a National Spokesperson and Educator for Fortune 500 Companies Nationwide.
Candy's clientele - From "Soccer Moms" to Celebrity clients: As a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Luxury Homes Marketing Specialist (CLHMS), Graduate, Realtors® Institute Member (GRI), Senior Residential Specialist (SRES), and Certified Condominium Specialist®. Candy has vast knowledge and experience few Realtors® have to offer. She has sold hundreds of homes, townhomes and condominiums, as well as income and investment properties. Her expertise has made her a consistent award-winning Realtor®.
Candy has appeared in "Who's Who in Real Estate in North America" and was validated by RE/MAX of California and Hawaii as a former RE/Max Agent for being in the top third of all agents in the RE/MAX Network. In addition, Candy is a longtime member of the National, California Association of Realtors®, and local Realtor® Associations.
Candy is a Past President of the Verdugo Hills Chapter of the Women's Council of Realtors® and also served as a Vice President and Educational Program Chairwoman promoting high standards in the real estate industry. Candy is currently the Broker-Owner of Peak Premier Properties and President of the Real Estate Investors Institute, a cutting-edge real estate company that assists buyers, sellers and real estate agents through educational training and real estate sales.
Candy is also a member of CAI, Community Associations Institute, a national organization comprised of Homeowners Associations business partners, HOA attorneys, and HOA managers who participate together in local and national legal and business seminars and forums to discuss updates in HOA law and financing and HOA management procedures across the U.S.
Candy currently serves as the National Director and Los Angeles County Chairperson of the Council of Condominium Specialists® and she is also a Director of the Council of Condominium Specialists® and the Council of CID Specialists®.